


Fireproof

by shesbreathless



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Enemies to Lovers, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Patient death, in case that bothers anyone, kind of?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-10-22 19:55:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17669018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shesbreathless/pseuds/shesbreathless
Summary: Levi and Nico meet again at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital after breaking up on bad terms in high school. Can they fix things between them or is it too late?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Before you begin reading this: I'm sure there's an unbelievable amount of incorrect facts about how an actual hospital works, but I tried my best to be accurate! If anything is just way too acceptable, let me know!

Levi walks into the room with his nose up in the air, eyes flitting all over, trying to take everything in. Every part of the hospital is bright and shiny, full of people walking around with purpose and focus, and Levi feels like his heart is going to beat out of his chest at any moment.

This hospital’s reputation precedes it, with all the tragedies as well as the accomplishments that have happened in here. The big decoration on the floor and the names it carries stare stoically up at Levi.

He’s been here before, visiting and for his intern interview, but it feels different to actually be part of it, to be inside the mechanism that makes all of it work. Levi brushes a hand down his scrub-covered chest and takes a deep breath.

It has been the perfect first day so far. The other interns are just as scared yet excited as he is, everybody basically vibrating out of their bodies while they wait for someone to show up and give them directions.

“I saw Meredith Grey walking around this morning,” Taryn leans in to whisper in his ear.

Her eyes are wide and her smile is slightly manic, but Levi’s own expression probably mirrors hers, so he can’t judge.

“I wonder who we’re going to be assigned to,” somebody behind them says, and there is a collective hum of agreement.

They had all met at the big party organized for the new interns the night before, but Levi has a hard time remembering the names of most of these people. The only one that really stood up to him is Taryn, who hasn’t left his side all day.

Levi feels sure of himself in a way he really hasn’t felt before. He’s where he’s worked so hard to be for years, and he has the right to feel proud of himself. Also, he can’t wait to finally step in the O.R. and get his hands dirty.

“Interns!” a voice calls out.

The whole group turns around, looking up to the top of the stairs with a mix of curiosity and terror in their eyes. Dr. Webber smiles down at them, arms slightly spread out and a happy expression on his face.

“Welcome to Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital,” he greets them, and a few smiles appear among the group.

Levi smiles to himself; it’s happening, then. Dr. Webber ushers them up the staircase and down the hallway. He shows them around for a good while, explaining what every room and area is for, giving them time to take it all in.

They walk by some patients’ rooms, everybody stepping all over each other to take a quick peek in. When they pass in front of the surgery scheduling board, Levi stops long enough for Taryn to have to forcibly pull him away. Walking down the hallway leading to the nearest empty O.R. feels like being in a dream.

Doctors and nurses alike move aside when their big group walks by, some shaking their heads at them and some straight up rolling their eyes at the wide-eyed, note taking, awkward looking interns.

“Everybody is going to be annoyed by your mere presence at first,” Dr. Webber admits. “So try not to get in anybody’s way.”

Levi catches the eye of a nurse leaning back in his chair behind the station, his arms crossed over his chest. He holds his gaze for what feels like a second too much, then turns away and scurries to catch up with Taryn when he winks at Levi. His cheeks feel like they’re burning up.

He’s not used to that kind of attention, but he’s not rejecting it. If this is how the rest of his work days here are going to be, he really can’t complain. He makes a mental note to come back here later.

He turns back to glance at the nurse once again, but he’s already turned away to focus on something else. Levi mentally shrugs and goes back to paying attention to Dr. Webber.

“You’re going to get paged by the doctors you’re working with today,” Dr. Webber’s voice carries through his thoughts. “For now, you may go. Just stay out of trouble, please.”

He nods in their general direction and then leaves them to their own devices. The interns look at each other with confused expressions, nobody knowing what to do now that they’re alone.

“Let’s go to the cafeteria,” Taryn grabs Levi’s arm and leads him away.

They take the stairs, because Levi insists that they haven’t earned the right to ride the elevator yet. Taryn rolls her eyes at him, but doesn’t argue about it.

The cafeteria looks like a blur of light and dark blue scrubs quickly moving around, mixed with the patients’ family and friends milling about without a real purpose. The noise of people chatting is loud in Levi’s ears, but the atmosphere feels lively and exciting.

Levi and Taryn move to the end of the line waiting to get coffee, silently looking around. They stand close together, almost joining forces against this unknown situation that they are yet to get to know.

“I wonder who we are with today,” Levi says out loud.

“I hope it’s Meredith Grey,” Taryn sighs dreamily.

Levi playfully smacks her on the shoulder. “You’re obsessed with her.”

“I’m not!” she defends herself, then stops and smiles sheepishly. “Aren’t you?”

Levi shrugs and makes a noise, hoping it’s enough of an answer for her. Truth be told, the thought of meeting any of the legends walking around this hospital makes him want to scream in excitement. He feels so lucky to have gotten in this program, because he still can’t believe it.

Their turn comes up, and they quickly fix themselves big cups of coffee, dumping probably unhealthy amounts of sugar in it. They have heard too many stories about how difficult their first shifts are going to be, and they don’t want to be caught unprepared.

They step out of the cafeteria, both silently sighing in relief when they leave all the noise behind, and sipping on their drinks. All of a sudden, their pagers go off at the same time. Levi gets his off of the belt of his pants and holds his breath before reading the name written on it.

“Avery,” Levi reads out loud.

His heart skips a beat and he counts his blessings. He turns to share his excitement with Taryn, but only finds her looking as if she’d just seen a ghost. He waves a hand in front of her face and she recoils, blinking quickly.

“Grey,” she whispers, waving the pager in Levi’s face.

Levi grabs her wrist to be able to read the screen. It does, indeed, read out Meredith Grey’s name.

“Nice,” he holds out his fist to bump against Taryn’s.

She goes along with it and hits his fist with hers, still looking stunned. They stare at each other for a few seconds, neither of them moving to go answer the page.

Levi is the first to snap out of it. “Go, then!” he waves her off, and she springs up and jogs off without another word.

Levi watches her run away, chuckling to himself. He double checks his pager and moves towards the elevator, which he guesses he has the right to ride now, still sipping his coffee. He presses the button and steps back, breathing deeply to calm his nerves.

The elevator dings and people walk out, Levi waiting to the side for his turn. When everybody is out, he steps in and leans against the nearer wall, cradling the cup in his hands and watching the numbers light up.

So many people have tried to warn him about how hard his first day was going to be, but he doesn’t see why. Everybody has been incredibly nice and he feels prepared to tackle anything. Also, he got assigned to Jackson freaking Avery on the very first day.

He taps his foot on the ground and huffs out a nervous breath, thankful for being alone in here so he can melt down as much as he wants without anybody judging him.

His heart jumps in his throat when he realises that he is not alone at all.

“Levi Schmitt?”

He stares at the wall right in front of him, every muscle in his body drawn tight. He has to physically stop himself from squeezing the coffee cup with all the force he has. This can’t be happening.

“Levi?”

His legs move against his own will, forcing him to turn around and face what is probably his worst nightmare come to life.

“Hey,” he whispers so quietly that he almost doesn’t hear it himself.

Nico Kim is standing right in front of him, clad in blue scrubs and looking more handsome than Levi could think possible. He has a surprised but pleased smile on his face, and Levi’s knees feel like they’re going to give out from under him.

Levi doesn’t have time to question why he had immediately recognized his voice, because Nico is leaning forward and wrapping his arms around him, hugging him tightly. Levi lets him, patting his free hand on his back once.

“How are you?” Nico asks him, holding Levi’s shoulders at arm’s length. “Do you work here?”

“I do. I’m an intern,” Levi nods and crosses his arms over his chest.

Nico spends way too long looking at Levi, his gaze travelling lower than Levi would consider appropriate. His eyes snap back up to Levi’s face at last.

“You look good,” Nico smiles happily at him. “Like, really good.”

Levi wants to disappear. Or maybe he wants Nico to disappear. Anyway, he wants this situation to end instantly.

“Thanks,” he manages to say, looking everywhere but at Nico’s face.

Levi’s mind is running a million miles an hour, and he still can’t believe this is actually happening, right here, right now, to him.

“Still not a big talker, are you?” Nico finally lets go of him, but stays way too close anyway.

Levi blinks at him. Suddenly, he feels like all of his energy comes back, accompanied by a wave of pure rage. He scoffs and steps back until he feels he’s far enough from Nico. And even then, he takes one more step for good measure.

“The last time I saw you,” Levi starts, trying to stay as calm as possible. “You were breaking up with me because I didn’t want to hang out with your stupid, idiotic, asshole friends.”

The smile on Nico’s face fades away immediately, a confused expression taking its place instead. He opens and closes his mouth a few times, but ultimately doesn’t say anything. Levi scoffs again, shaking his head.

“I never got an apology for that, you know,” Levi raises an eyebrow.

Nico looks like he’s at a complete loss for words, and it makes Levi feel better. He shifts his weight from one leg to the other, waiting for Nico to say something, anything. The elevator has stopped on several floors by now, but nobody has come in yet.

Memories of high school, images of both of them much younger and together, keep flooding Levi’s mind. Above all of them is how cold Nico’s face looked when he broke Levi’s heart as if he didn’t matter. The emotions tied to those images are also trying to resurface, but Levi can’t and won’t let this get to him.

“You know what,” Levi raises his hands after a few minutes of Nico not saying a single word. “I can’t do this right now.”

He turns on his heels and walks out of the elevator as soon as the doors open, leaving Nico to stare dumbly at his back. He has no idea what floor he’s on, but he needs to put as much distance between them as he can.

He quickly walks towards the stairs, tears threatening to fall down his cheeks. He takes a moment to close his eyes and gather himself. He’s going to meet Dr. Avery and work with him. He’s not going to let Nico hurt him again, not like this.

It’s definitely not the perfect first day anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

It’s been three days since the horrible encounter with Nico, and Levi still can’t completely shake it off. He has tried to ignore him as much as he can, but it’s not easy. Especially when he can’t stop thinking about what happened between them.

Currently, he’s leaning on his elbows on the nurses’ station he passed on the hospital tour the first day of work. He’s been trying to meet the nurse he thought had been eyeing him, but he hasn’t been lucky so far.

Instead, he gets to pretend he’s not looking at Nico across the room, tending to some patients in the E.R. He doesn’t want to, but he can’t help himself. It’s not his fault Nico has grown up to look like a marble statue or something.

Like, Levi can literally see the muscles move underneath the shirt of his scrubs. It’s unbelievably hot, but Levi is trying to keep the angry façade here.

Actually, now that he thinks about it, it’s not a façade at all. He really is still mad at him, and not without reason. Nico had made him feel like there was nothing right about him, and that thought had stuck with him for much longer than it should have.

He thought that he was over it, but seeing him again has brought up feelings that he has spent years trying to suppress.

He’s so caught up in his thoughts that he doesn’t notice Taryn laughing loudly at first. “Dude!”

He turns towards her, startled at how close she is standing to him. She’s shaking her head and still laughing, and Levi is really confused.

“What?” he asks her, turning his back to the scene he was admiring and leaning back against the desk.

“He’s absolutely out of your league,” she nods her head in Nico’s general direction.

Levi laughs awkwardly, scratching his head and avoiding looking her in the eyes. Some part of him is panicking at how fast she picked up on him being gay, but the rest of him is glad that she doesn’t seem to be making a big deal out of it.

“You have no idea how right you are,” he finally says, turning back around.

Nico is not with the patient anymore, and a quick look around the room confirms that he has left the E.R. Levi sighs and picks up the chart he’s been avoiding that really needs to be filled, resigned to just get to work.

Taryn stays by his side chatting away happily, but Levi is not really listening to her. He still has a tornado of thoughts flying around in his brain, both positive and negative, and he has no idea how he’s supposed to deal with this whole Nico situation.

He doesn’t want it to ruin his work quality, but he also doesn’t want to disregard the years of self-doubt and pain that Nico’s actions have caused him.

He’s still pretending to be focused on the chart in front of him when he feels somebody slide up next to him. He’s sure it’s Taryn trying to get his attention back, so he makes a show of tilting his head to the side and staring at her with an unimpressed look.

Except, he ends up staring at somebody’s scrub-covered chest. A quick glance upwards reveals it to be Nico’s chest. Nico, who’s looking back at him with an amused expression.

“Well, hello,” he smirks down at him.

Levi immediately recoils and turns back to his chart, cheeks burning bright red. He hears Nico chuckling and move closer. Levi slides further away from him stubbornly.

“You know,” Nico starts, voice low. “I can see you staring at my ass from over here.”

Levi is sure he’s glowing red by now, but he refuses to let Nico have the last word. He turns towards him and tries to look as offended as possible.

“You’re so full of yourself,” he says with all the anger he can muster up.

Nico just smiles at him. He’s so infuriating, completely disregarding every hostile signal from Levi as if he knows something that Levi doesn’t.

He decides he doesn’t want to do this now, or at all for that matter, so he starts packing up his things to move somewhere else, but Nico slides a white paper bag in front of him. Levi stares at it wordlessly.

“I remember you have a sweet tooth,” Nico explains, opening the bag.

Levi can smell it before he can see it. Inside the bag, there is a chocolate muffin, and Levi almost wants to cry. He closes his eyes and shakes his head, but takes the bag reluctantly.

He can almost hear how satisfied Nico is, and he hates himself for it, but he really doesn’t feel like fighting.

“Look, Nico, I don’t-“ he tries, but Nico holds a finger up to his lips.

Levi goes cross-eyed trying to follow the movement. He can’t stand the way the feeling of Nico touching him like this makes a spark ignite in his belly, so he grabs his wrist and tugs it away from his face.

“We can put the past behind ourselves,” Nico whispers, tilting his head to the side. “Start over, you know.”

Levi has no idea how to respond to that. He opens and closes his mouth a few times, but he can’t think of anything that would convey how outraged he feels right now. Nico is still smiling at him.

“I don’t think you understand,” he finally manages to say. “I don’t want to have anything to do with you.”

Nico’s expression visibly wavers, but he doesn’t step back. Instead, he leans even closer, putting on his best puppy eyes. Levi sees right through it.

“Don’t you dare,” he stops him before he can even start. “I can’t just forget what you did to me.”

“You’re making me sound like a monster,” Nico scoffs, rolling his eyes.

“I’m making you sound like the idiot teenager you were,” Levi spits back.

He realises they’re both speaking way too loudly, considering where they are and what time of the day it is, but his blood is boiling in his veins by now. He dares a glance around, but it doesn’t look like anybody is paying much attention to them.

“We’re not teenagers anymore,” Nico says. “We should act like the grown-ups we are.”

Levi scoffs. “Grown-ups take responsibility for their actions.”

“Fucking hell, Levi!” Nico raises his voice. “People break up! It happens!”

It’s the last straw for Levi. He gathers all his stuff in his arms, ready to leave as soon as he can.

“You still don’t get it,” he shakes his head sadly, then walks away.

He can hear Nico calling after him, but he doesn’t stop. He keeps walking, trying to find somewhere quiet enough to have an impromptu meltdown.

It’s not going as he planned, his first week at work, and he’s really mad at the only person who’s causing all of this drama to happen. All he wants is to focus on being the best doctor he can be, but Nico being everywhere, all the time, is really ruining that.

He slams the door that leads to the stairs open, sighing in relief when nobody seems to be in the near vicinity. He sits down on a random step and sticks his head between his knees, trying to find some peace of mind.

Nico is driving him mad, with his being tall, and handsome, and muscular, and _stupid_. He’s pretending he never did anything wrong, that how he treated Levi is fair, which is definitely not the case. He broke his heart, and Levi doesn’t know how to make him understand that.

His head is still swimming in questions and doubts by the time the door he came in through opens again. He hears heavy footsteps coming closer and stopping right behind him, then somebody sighs.

“Levi,” Nico says quietly.

Levi wants to cry. He groans loudly and sits up straight, still facing away from Nico.

“Look, I’m sorry.” Nico says.

Levi wants to fight him some more, but there is something about his tone of voice that tells him to wait.

“You were miserable,” Nico starts, holding out his index finger when Levi turns around and glares at him. “You hated my friends, you hated when I asked you to hang out with them, and I’m pretty sure you ended up hating me too.”

Levi hears him come closer and sit down next to him on the steps. He shifts so that he has enough space.

“I could see how much it hurt you, spending time with them. With me. And I had no idea how to fix it, other than eliminating what was hurting you. I’m sorry if it looked like I was eliminating you, instead.”

Levi can see that Nico is looking at his profile out of the corner of his eye, but he keeps staring forward. He replays Nico’s words in his head until they stop making sense, but one thing jumps up to the front of his mind.

“I didn’t hate you,” he whispers, turning slightly to the side to look Nico in the eye. “I hated not being able to fit in with your friends.”

Nico shakes his head, looking like he wants to argue with him about that, so Levi continues. “They couldn’t stand me. And they treated you horribly when I was around, but you couldn’t see it because you were too busy looking out for me to notice.”

“They didn’t.”

“They did. And I couldn’t keep doing that to you and to myself, so I tried to avoid meeting them. But apparently you took it that I hated you, and you broke up with me, and then you moved away and we never spoke a word to each other again.”

They both consider each other’s words in silence. Then, Nico starts laughing quietly. Levi raises an eyebrow at him.

“So we were both only trying to be nice to each other,” Nico says, tilting his head and smiling bitterly.

“It’s all your friends’ fault,” Levi decides.

Nico nods and sighs deeply. “I can’t argue with that.”

They sit there in silence for a few more minutes. Levi has so much pent-up energy from the almost-fight they had, but it’s turning into sadness the more time that passes.

“I still really didn’t like how you handled that,” Levi mumbles.

“I know, and I’m sorry,” Nico answers. “Let me make it up to you. Let’s have lunch. Or dinner.”

He winks and Levi feels like he’s back to being seventeen years old, because he blushes and his tongue flops uselessly when he goes to answer him.

“Er-“ he tries, but he gets interrupted by his pager going off loudly all of a sudden.

He looks down at it, immediately perking up when he realises that it’s a call for a big trauma coming in soon. He scrambles to stand up and almost runs out the door without another word to Nico. He stops in his tracks and turns back, finger pointed in Nico’s direction.

“Hold that thought,” he breathes, then runs away.

He gets to about halfway down the hallway before he realises he could get down to the E.R. faster if he took the stairs, so he turns on his heel and sprints back in the direction of where he left Nico.

The door is still ajar when he comes up to it, and he almost rushes to squeeze past it, but he hears Nico’s voice echoing in the wide stairwell.

“You wouldn’t believe how easy it was,” Levi hears Nico say.

He guesses he’s talking to someone on the phone, and he really needs to get downstairs, so he almost goes for it and runs past him, but then Nico talks again.

“Yeah, I got him to walk straight into my arms in less than a week.”

Levi feels like his heart has sunk into his stomach. Surely Nico is not talking about him? He wouldn’t do that, he’s been acting so nice to him all day, Levi must be reading too much into it.

Or maybe he’s not. Maybe this is Nico just acting as the idiot Levi has thought him to be all these years, and maybe Levi is an even bigger idiot for hoping that he would have changed in the meantime. Seriously, why did he just fall for it?

Levi doesn’t realise how hard he’s holding onto the door handle until he stretches out his fingers and steps away. He shakes his head to himself with a sour expression etched on his face and turns around to find another way downstairs.

He should have known.


	3. Chapter 3

He’s leaning against the wall in the ambulance bay, already wearing his gown and gloves, waiting for the trauma to come it. Everybody around him is fighting over who gets to be on the case, but he keeps his head low and tries to ignore the heavy feeling clamping down on his heart.

Dr. Hunt is standing among them, arms crossed over his chest and gaze focused somewhere in the distance, ready to jump into action as soon as the ambulance shows up. Levi sighs and lightly hits his head against the wall behind him.

He really doesn’t want to be, but he’s still upset. He’s mad at himself for believing that Nico had changed at all from the boy who broke his heart all those years ago, and he’s mad at Nico for being… Nico. He just kind of wants to go hide somewhere and feel sorry for himself.

“There it is!” somebody says loudly.

Everybody leans forward to watch the ambulance approach, but Levi stands behind. He’s aware that this is his first serious trauma and he should be as excited as everybody else is, but he’s just not feeling it right now.

“Stand back,” Dr. Hunt warns them.

The siren gets louder and louder until the ambulance stops in front of the group of doctors. The paramedics jump off and work quickly to open the rear door and roll the gurney out. It feels like it’s all moving in slow motion, and Levi realises he’s holding his breath.

Dr. Hunt moves first, standing next to the patient and assessing the wounds he can see, while one paramedic loudly informs all of them of the patient’s stats. Levi still feels frozen in his spot.

“Oliver Moore, 15 years old, the tourist plane he was in crashed. He’s the only survivor.”

Levi can see a shadow settling over Dr. Hunt’s features, his eyes going dark and lips straightening in a hard line. The patient sobs quietly, so Levi focuses his eyes back on him.

He’s seen wounds before, he even got hold the retractor during one of Dr. Bailey’s surgeries the other day, but this is something else. The patient is barely conscious and everything is moving fast now, and Levi can feel his own heart beating in his ears.

Dr. Hunt turns back to them and scours the small crowd, looking past all the raised hands and catching Levi’s eye. He considers him for a second and then nods in his direction.

“Schmitt, you’re on the case,” he announces.

Levi moves automatically, ignoring the calls of protest and following the gurney inside. He ends up standing right next to the patient’s head, who looks up at him with wide eyes full of fear.

“You’re okay,” Levi smiles at him. “We’re going to take care of you.”

The patient does his best to smile at him, then his eyes roll back into his head and he passes out.

The next few hours are a blur of machines beeping too loudly, blood splashing everywhere and Dr. Hunt yelling orders that everybody follows quickly. The doctors and the nurses all work together in unison, passing instruments and keeping track of vitals.

Levi has no idea what hour it is when he finally stumbles out of the O.R., pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes and taking the first real breath in what feels like days.

The patient – Oliver, he reminds himself – crashed three times while they worked on him, but they managed to bring him back every single time. Now he’s stable in his room, but they’re going to have to keep a close eye on him.

Levi is exhausted and every bone in his body hurts, but there is also satisfaction thrumming deep inside him. He can’t keep the image of Oliver smiling at him like he really trusts him out of his mind.

“Good work, Schmitt,” Dr. Hunt pats him firmly on the back when he passes by him.

Levi mentally does a fist pump, then sneakily checks that nobody saw him. He seems to be in the clear, so he just smiles to himself and walks away as well.

He means to go find an empty on-call room to take a well-deserved nap, but his feet move him in the direction of Oliver’s room instead. Levi had stayed back longer than usual, so Oliver must be awake by now. He figures he can quickly check on him and then go to bed.

The lights are dimmed when Levi leans his head past the doorway, but he can see that Oliver’s eyes are open and he’s staring blankly up at the ceiling. Levi almost turns around to let him rest, but Oliver notices him and gives him a shy smile.

“Hi,” Levi whispers, walking in and reaching for the chart at the foot of the bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I was in a plane crash,” Oliver says drily.

Levi doesn’t know how to answer that, so he just moves closer to check on the multitude of tubes connected to both of his arms. Oliver follows him with his eyes, staring at him silently.

“Dr. Grey came in here earlier,” Oliver says after a few minutes of silence. “She said she had to check how I was doing, but she looked like she had been crying.”

“Yeah,” Levi nods, fixing the blankets around Oliver’s body. “It’s a long story.”

“Tell me?” Oliver asks, but he already looks like he can’t keep his eyes open anymore. “Please?”

“Let’s make a deal,” Levi concedes. “You rest some more, and I’ll come back to chat when you wake up.”

Oliver nods, and he’s back to sleeping in just a few seconds. Levi smiles and leaves quietly. Now that the adrenaline from a serious trauma has worn off, he definitely feels the weight of the day on his shoulders. He can hear the on-call room beds calling to him.

He reaches the elevators and presses the call button, wrapping his own arms around himself while he waits. There is an ache thrumming in his chest, the whole situation with Nico making itself known again after he managed to ignore it while he was focusing on his case.

Now that some time has passed and he’s not feeling the sting of betrayal as strongly, all he’s left with is disappointment. He has no idea why he just fell for it like an idiot.

He steps inside the elevator when the doors open, and barely two minutes later his head hits a pillow that is way too thin for his liking. He wiggles around to try getting comfortable and sighs deeply, already half asleep.

The last thing that flashes in his mind before he gives in to sleep is Oliver’s face smiling hopefully up at him.

-

Levi is abruptly woken up by his pager going off next to his head. He reaches blindly for it and tries to focus his eyes on the flashing numbers on the tiny screen. The whole room is dark, no light coming in from the window, so it must be the middle of the night.

It takes Levi a few seconds to figure it out, but his heart jumps in his throat when he connects the numbers he’s seeing to what they actually mean. It’s a 911, and it’s coming from Oliver’s room.

He jumps off the bed and almost crashes against the door trying to open it as fast as he can. He runs down the hallway and takes the stairs, knowing he couldn’t bear just standing in the elevator. When he finally reaches the room, he basically flings himself inside.

Oliver looks like he’s sleeping, but every machine in the room is beeping loudly at the same time. He’s crashing again. There are nurses running around and yelling at him, so Levi sets into motion.

“Page Hunt!” he calls out, getting into the rhythm of chest compressions.

He focuses all of his attention into keeping this kid alive, because he refuses to have his first real case die on him. Not like this, not this kid in particular, not today. He almost doesn’t even notice it when Dr. Hunt walks in, booming voice giving out orders.

He sighs in relief when Dr. Karev also walks in, but it’s short lived. Oliver is showing no signs of recovering, and Levi wants to cry, but he knows it’s not the moment.

Nurses are told to push in medicine, Dr. Karev cuts in a few places, and what sounds like half the hospital gets paged into the room, but Levi never stops his movements.

That is, until he feels a big hand grab him by the shoulder, and a loud voice calling his name right next to his ear.

“Schmitt, let him go,” Dr. Hunt tells him.

Levi shakes his head and does a few more compressions, set on not giving up. Dr. Hunt repeats his order but Levi still doesn’t stop. He’s sure he’ll come back, he just needs some more time.

The only noise in the room is the regular beeping of the ECG machine. Everybody has either already left, or they’re just staring silently at Levi making a fool of himself.

“Levi,” another voice calls out.

He recognizes it immediately and he hates himself for it. He feels hands settling on both of his shoulders and squeeze, and he can’t do it anymore. As soon as the beeping stops, the tears he’s been holding back come flowing out.

He turns around and steps directly into Nico, who’s standing right behind him. He pushes past him and walks out. The last thing he hears is Dr. Hunt calling the time of death.

His shift ended about an hour ago, so Levi is fully planning on going home and crying as much as he wants. He’s almost reached the locker room, when he hears that same voice calling his name.

“Levi, wait!” Nico yells in the mostly silent hallway.

Levi stops dead in his tracks, head hanging low. There are tears making his vision blurry, but he can still see Nico’s shoes when he comes up in front of him.

“I’m so sorry for your patient,” he says quietly.

Levi can barely keep a whimper in, hands coming up to cover his face. He feels Nico wrapping his arms around his shoulders in what he guesses is a hug, and he feels the last of his energy swell up inside him.

“Fuck off,” he spits, pushing Nico away.

Nico stares at him, pure surprise written on his face. Levi is so tired and so hurt by this whole day, and if Nico keeps acting like this he thinks he’ll just have a meltdown in the middle of the hallway. He takes a step back when Nico moves closer.

“What happened?” Nico asks.

Levi scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest and pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers.

“I don’t even want to waste time on you,” he says, voice tired. “I heard you talking on the phone earlier.”

Nico still looks like he doesn’t understand a word Levi is saying. Levi interrupts him before he can try to say anything to justify himself.

“I’m so easy and you’re so great, let’s just get this over with,” Levi waves him off.

He’s about to turn away and just forget this first week of work has ever happened, but Nico grabs his hand and keeps him in place. Levi has to take a deep breath before he says anything.

“I’m serious. Somebody dared you to seduce the dumb intern and I fell right for it. You can go tell your friend how amazing you are, but I don’t want to see you ever again. I’m done.”

He stares Nico in the eye long enough to make sure he looks like he’s understood. Nico starts laughing loudly instead. Levi’s head hurts and he gets more confused the longer Nico just laughs in his face.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Nico shakes his head. “But you’re so wrong.”

Levi doesn’t know what to say at this point. He thinks he might be hallucinating right now, because that makes much more sense than what is actually happening.

“I’m wrong because I won’t let you use me like a toy?”

“You’re wrong because I wasn’t talking about you.”

Levi gets even angrier at that. “Oh, so you’re doing this to multiple people? Even better!”

“Shut up, Levi.” Nico rolls his eyes to the ceiling.

“Excuse me? I don’t-“

“No, really, shut up.” Nico talks over him. “I’m not doing anything to anyone. I was talking about a patient whose broken legs I fixed. We didn’t think he would ever walk again, but he did.”

He lifts one hand and traces Levi’s arm all the way from his shoulder down to his wrist. Levi doesn’t move, frozen in his spot.

“I was serious about wanting to make it up to you. I know you don’t believe it, but I like you. I liked you back then and I like you now. Maybe I like you even better now.”

Levi stares at Nico’s mouth, expecting something else to come out of it, but that’s it. He replays the words in his head, hoping they’ll start making sense somehow. They don’t. All he knows is that he’s had enough for today. He turns on his heels and leaves Nico standing there without another word.


	4. Chapter 4

The next couple of days feel like they go by in a blur of patients coming in and successfully making it out, barely leaving a quiet moment between surgeries. Levi is honestly glad for the distraction.

He had gone directly home after fighting with Nico the other day, but he had fallen asleep as soon as his head had hit the pillow, and he’s been trying to avoid thinking about everything surrounding him ever since, because he can feel a headache coming on every time he tries to make sense of it.

Today he’s not that lucky, though. He was assigned to ortho for the day, and he’s supposed to go find Dr. Lincoln to do a consult in less than twenty minutes, but he has no plan to get off the bench he’s sitting on anytime soon.

“Did you fall asleep sitting up?” Taryn pops her head in his line of vision.

“I’m trying to disappear into the universe,” Levi answers her.

She makes a sound and shrugs, turning away to start rummaging into her locker. Levi focuses his eyes on her back and stares, sitting completely still but a thousand thoughts flying around in his head.

He’s gone through so many emotions in just a few days that he doesn’t know what to think at this point. Right now he thinks he might just be embarrassed by how he acted the last time he and Nico talked.

How had he turned into the kind of person who accuses somebody based on nothing but something he overheard? He can’t stop thinking of how nice Nico actually was about all of it, and he feels even worse. Nico seems like a genuinely good person, and Levi really wants to believe it.

He’s pulled out of his thoughts when somebody taps him on the forehead with maybe too much force. He shakes his head and glares at Taryn, who just nods in the direction of the door.

“Yes, I’m going to my personal hell, don’t worry,” he sighs and starts gathering his things.

Taryn laughs at him and shakes her head, then somebody clears their throat from somewhere behind them. Levi turns his head and directs an annoyed look towards the doorway. Where Nico is standing, hands in his pockets and one eyebrow cocked.

“I didn’t mean that,” Levi mumbles.

Nico lifts one corner of his mouth into a smile and wraps an arm around Levi’s shoulders when he’s close enough. “You did, but it’s okay.”

Levi doesn’t answer, instead staring forward and trying to make the blush he feels on his cheeks go down as fast as possible. He looks up at Nico out of the corner of his eye, but finds him just smiling serenely at the people they pass.

“Aren’t you mad at me?” Levi asks him.

It’s not how he wanted to phrase that, but that’s what came out of his mouth anyway. Nico pats him on the shoulder and lets him go, but stands close to him. They turn a corner, and Levi has trouble keeping up with his long strides.

“I’m not mad at you,” Nico confirms. “I came to get you, didn’t I?”

“Yeah,” Levi says quietly.

That still doesn’t answer Levi’s questions. He thinks he would have been mad at Nico if he’d done the same thing to him, but apparently Nico is above that. What does it mean, though? Are they just back to where they’d left off before Levi freaked out? Does he want to be?

Once again, he’s forced to stop torturing himself with these thoughts when they step into the room where Dr. Lincoln is waiting for them. The patient, a young woman with bright blue eyes, greets all of them happily.

“Dr. Schmitt, want to present the case?” Dr. Lincoln asks him.

Nico passes Levi the chart, but he doesn’t need it, since he’d spent the whole night studying this case instead of sleeping. He accepts it anyway, thanking Nico with a nod. The patient looks between them curiously.

“Gloria Johnson, 25 years old, she shattered her knee and fibula while roller-skating,” Levi recites.

Dr. Lincoln nods and takes over then, asking Gloria how she’s feeling, and telling her how they’re going to proceed today. Levi is only half listening to Dr. Lincoln, because he can see the mischievous light in Gloria’s eyes get shadowed by fear.

Levi lets the list of surgeries and therapies come to an end before stepping closer to the bed to start getting Gloria ready, but Nico beats him to it. Dr. Lincoln leaves after promising to see her later, so Levi is left staring at Nico while he gets Gloria’s vitals.

In an attempt to not seem as awkward as he feels, he starts fidgeting with the IV bags next to the bed. He could leave, but he wants to make sure that Gloria is reassured before he goes.

“That sounded like a lot, didn’t it?” she asks, a nervous tremor in her voice.

Levi opens his mouth to answer her, but Nico speaks before he can. “Dr. Lincoln is the best, you’re in good hands.”

She nods and leans back while Nico takes her pressure, but she doesn’t look convinced. She looks up at Levi, who gives her what he hopes is his best comforting smile.

“It’s probably a stupid question, but does he do these surgeries often?” she asks again.

This time Levi just lets Nico answer. He wouldn’t admit it even if his life was being threatened, but he’s enjoying seeing him interact with a patient. He’s caring and seems legitimately interested in the patient’s doubts and questions, and it’s definitely not what Levi was expecting.

“He does hundreds of them every year,” Nico assures her. “You have nothing to fear.”

He lifts the side of the blanket to quickly check on her wound, then smiles at her when he’s done. She still looks worried but a small smile works its way on her face as if she can’t control it. Levi can relate.

“I’ll see you later, alright?” Nico asks. “It’s going to be alright. Trust me.”

He pats her on the arm and turns around, smiling at Levi as well before leaving the room. Levi follows his retreating figure with his eyes. When he focuses back on Gloria, he finds her looking up at him with a smirk on her face.

“He’s good,” she says, and it’s not a question.

“He’s good,” Levi agrees.

He closes her chart and puts it back in its place, all while he’s pretending he doesn’t notice Gloria’s eyes following his every movement, and more importantly the way she’s looking at him. It feels like she knows something he doesn’t.

“You notice a lot of things when you’re lying in these beds,” she says.

Levi makes a sound in the back of his throat, not knowing if and what he’s supposed to answer. She just keeps staring at him.

“It’s none of my business,” she continues, looking down at her nails nonchalantly. “But he looks at you like he wants to eat you. And you look at him like you want him to eat you.”

That’s not what Levi was expecting her to say. He’s a little taken aback, so he stands there with his mouth open for a few seconds. She shrugs and stretches her arms above her head.

“Am I wrong?” she teases him.

“Gloria,” Levi starts, shaking his head and laughing.

“I mean, he looks like he’d be good at-“

“Alright, and that’s where I leave!” he talks over her, turning on his heels and marching out of the room.

He can hear her laughing behind his back as he walks away, but he refuses to be harassed by a patient about that. The last thing he needs is somebody else messing with his thoughts like this.

Is that really what they look like on the outside? And is there any truth to it? Surely Nico doesn’t think of him like that. He did say he still likes Levi, and he wouldn’t be completely opposed to it, but…

No, screw that. Levi doesn’t want him like that, not anymore at least. And besides, he’s basically his boss, surely it wouldn’t be appropriate for anything to happen. Even though basically everybody does it all the time, so it can’t actually be that bad, can it?

Whatever. Gloria probably imagined the whole thing anyway, so there is no point in dwelling on it so much. Levi sighs and heads to the cafeteria, figuring that he can at least get something to eat while he waits for the surgery to start.

“How was your trip in hell?” Taryn hip checks him when she notices him waiting in line.

“Not that hellish, actually,” Levi answers while he pours himself a cup of coffee.

“Oh, so you and Dr. Kim finally kissed and made up?” Taryn asks cheerfully.

Levi almost spits the sandwich he’d stuffed in his mouth. He leans against the closest table and coughs, Taryn patting him on the back and shooing away the people looking curiously at them.

Levi stays bent in half for longer than would actually be necessary, but he’s not ready to face Taryn yet. What is wrong with everybody today, assuming that he would be even half interested in Nico like that? Does he have it written on his forehead or something?

“I’m taking it that you haven’t,” Taryn huffs, pulling him up from his shoulder.

“Why would we- I don’t- we-“ Levi stammers, blushing furiously and trying to get away as fast as possible.

Taryn follows him, probably just to keep laughing at him. Levi finds a corner that looks isolated enough, and collapses against the wall, legs just barely keeping him upright. Taryn looks at him, expression unimpressed.

“You do know that the nurses are running bets on you two, right?”

“How would the nurses even know what’s happening between us?” Levi asks, eyes wide in disbelief.

“You tend to scream at each other in public,” Taryn shrugs.

Levi closes his eyes and hits his head against the wall behind him, maybe a bit harder than necessary. It hurts, but it’s a welcome distraction from everything else going through his head right now.

He guesses it actually is more public knowledge than he would like, considering their not so peaceful chat from the other day, and the one before that. It’s true that it was the middle of the night, but that doesn’t really matter for a hospital.

“Is it that obvious?” Levi whispers, giving up on pretending this isn’t happening.

Taryn gives him a look that speaks more than a thousand words ever would. They stare at each other for a few more seconds, then Levi pushes himself off the wall and sets off in the direction of the fellows’ lounge. He’s going to talk to Nico, even if he doesn’t know what he’s going to say yet.

He jogs through the halls, mind going a million miles an hour, and before he knows it he’s knocking on the door of the lounge, basically vibrating in his spot. By the time the door opens, he still hasn’t figured out what he actually wants to say or do.

“Can I help you?” a doctor Levi has never seen asks him.

“Is Dr. Kim in there?” Levi tries to peek his head around him to see inside the room.

“No,” is all the answer he gets before the door is being slammed in his face.

Levi just stands there for a few more seconds before he jumps back into motion, not letting this slight drawback mess with his resolution. He starts walking toward the cafeteria again, but then thinks better of it and heads for the staircase to go upstairs.

He smiles to himself when he hears Nico’s voice coming from the top of the stairs, and rushes to reach him faster. The closer he gets, the better he feels about all of this. He’s pretty sure this is going to end well.

“Oh yeah?” Levi hears Nico say when he comes close enough. “That sounds interesting.”

Levi slows down when he can see Nico’s feet from the bottom of the staircase he’s on right now. He’s not alone, it turns out, another pair of feet standing right in front of Nico’s. Suspiciously close. Levi squints and tries to see who it is.

“No, really, show me,” Nico’s voice echoes in the empty space.

It sounds like he’s laughing, and there is no flirtatious note to it, but Levi still frowns. In a surge of energy and mindless curiosity, he runs up another few steps and finds himself looking at Nico with one hand on the wall, towering over a short, brown haired man.

He pauses for half a second before immediately assuming the worst, just enough for Nico to notice him and push himself away from the wall. He shoots a look to the man, who runs away without making a sound.

“Don’t freak out,” Nico says, stepping towards Levi with his hands held out in front of him.

“Do I have a reason to?” Levi shrugs, because he doesn’t feel like running away.

“No,” Nico answers easily.

Levi is still standing a few steps underneath Nico, so he has to lean his head back to look him in the eye. He seems honest, staring right back as if he has nothing to hide. Levi trusts that he doesn’t.

“Did you need something?” Nico asks him, crossing his hands behind his back and rocking back and forth on his feet.

“Yeah, I have to say something,” Levi climbs the last steps and standing in front of Nico.

“Okay,” Nico smiles down at him. “Tell me.”

“I will,” Levi nods, but still doesn’t say anything.

They stare at each other, neither of them speaking. Nico cocks his head to the side and steps closer to Levi, their coats brushing against each other’s. Levi wants to run away and literally climb him at the same time. It’s not hard, choosing between the two.

“I like you, too,” Levi whispers, never breaking eye contact.

Nico’s smile gets even bigger. “Do you?”

“Don’t make me repeat it,” Levi rolls his eyes, but he steps even closer.

Their chests are flush against each other’s by now, and Levi is almost certain that Nico can feel how hard his heart is beating.

“I think you should repeat it,” Nico reaches out with one hand to straighten out the lapel of Levi’s coat.

Levi furrows his brows in defiance, but he lets Nico’s hand roam as much as it wants. Nico dips his head so low that Levi has to go cross-eyed if he wants to keep looking at him. Instead, he focuses his gaze on his lips.

“I like you,” he says, voice loud and clear.

“One more time?”

Levi huffs and rolls his eyes. He can’t stand any more of this. He shakes his head and turns around, ready to just give up on this if Nico is going to be so difficult. “Forget it.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Nico laughs.

One second Levi is facing the door, ready to leave, and the next Nico is tugging on his arm and forcing him to turn back around, their lips crashing against each other’s. Levi makes a sound in the back of his throat, but immediately melts into the kiss.

He reaches up to cross his wrists behind Nico’s neck, burying his fingers in the short hair at the base of his head. Nico wraps his arms around Levi’s waist and pulls him closer.

Their lips make wet sounds every time they come apart, Levi turning his head to the other side to get the best angle. He feels Nico putting pressure on his hips with his hands so that Levi has to walk backwards, ending up pressed against the wall behind him.

Levi gasps when Nico slides one hand up his back to grab onto Levi’s hair and tug his head to the side, lips going to drop a kiss on the side of his neck. Levi makes a soft sound that prompts Nico to gently bite down on the thin skin.

“If you leave a bruise I’m going to kill you,” Levi lightly hits Nico on the back.

Nico bites him again just to spite him, then shuts him up with another deep kiss when Levi starts complaining again. Levi would normally complain even more at that, but right now he’d let Nico do whatever he wants.

Suddenly, both of their pagers go off at the same time. They jump apart as if they’ve been burned, breathing heavily and staring at each other with wide eyes. Nico scrambles to unhook his pager from the waistband of his pants.

“It’s Link,” he says, briefly showing the tiny screen to Levi.

“Link?” Levi questions, fixing his scrubs and pulling his glasses off to clean them.

“Uh, Dr. Lincoln,” Nico explains.

“Right,” Levi nods.

They stare at each other some more, then Levi steps forward again and leans into the tips of his toes to kiss Nico. It’s quick and mostly chaste, but he needs it to convince himself he didn’t just dream all of that.

“Raincheck?” Nico whispers.

Levi just quickly kisses him again, pats him on the cheek, and runs out the door. He dodges a nurse going in the opposite direction and almost knocks down a crash cart, but he can’t stop smiling.


	5. Chapter 5

There have been a few instances in which Levi has regretted deciding to become a doctor. Some were when he was sure he wasn’t going to pass his last test before internship, some where when he was so tired he couldn’t remember his name.

Being stuck in an O.R. for hours on end with Nico right by his side when all he wants to do is put his hands on him is definitely one of them.

“Nico, grab this,” Dr. Lincoln tips the instrument in his hand towards Nico.

“Hold on, I can’t reach,” Nico answers, trying to position himself better.

Levi already feels like he’s going out of his mind, but then Nico rests his shoulder against Levi’s, their faces way too close to each other, and Levi wants to scream.

“Are you alright, Dr. Schmitt?” Dr. Lincoln asks him, and Levi can see his smirk even underneath his mask.

“Never been better,” Levi nods.

Nico clears his throat, and Levi puts more pressure on his shoulder, basically leaning against him for a few seconds. Levi is staring straight ahead at where Dr. Lincoln is working, but he can see Nico glancing at him out of the corner of his eye.

They’ve been operating for five hours already, and Levi is so ready to be done and get back to where they left off with Nico. Don’t get him wrong, he’s glad for the opportunity to scrub in, but he’s over it now.

Nico’s face is only a couple of inches away from his, and he wants to get back to kissing him. By the look Nico gives him when Levi touches their knees together, he’d say they’re on the same page.

“Schmitt, want to help me close up?” Dr. Lincoln asks Levi when they’re finally done.

Levi dies inside a little when Nico steps away from him to start getting out of his surgical gown. His eyes flit between Nico and Link, both of them staring at him.

“Um,” is all Levi manages to say.

Thankfully, Nico steps in to save him. “I’d stay but I’m exhausted. I’m going to sleep. Here. Well, not here, I meant in a room. By myself. Alright. Bye.”

He turns on his heels and disappears. Everyone is left looking at where he was standing, trying to make sense of what just happened. Levi has to force himself not to start laughing out loud.

Dr. Lincoln shrugs and gets everybody’s attention back by clapping his hands. The whole room moves at once, some people leaving and some moving closer to the table to close up and finally get out of here.

Half an hour later, Levi is stumbling out of the O.R. and basically ripping the gown off. He jogs away before anybody can stop him and delay him some more. It only takes a few minutes to reach the door of the on-call room Nico is in and knock on it.

“Occupied!” Nico’s voice calls from the inside.

Levi rolls his eyes to himself and knocks again. “It’s me, you idiot.”

There’s silence from the other side of the door for a few seconds, and then it’s swinging open, Nico appearing in all of his shirtless glory.

“Are you fucking serious,” Levi says under his breath, pushing Nico back inside the room with a hand on his chest.

Nico laughs, obviously knowing exactly what he’s doing, and Levi leans up to kiss him and shut him up. He wraps his arms around Nico’s neck, fingers grabbing his hair and tugging on it maybe harder than necessary, but Nico doesn’t seem to be complaining.

In fact, he blindly stretches one arm out to lock the door and then slides his hands down Levi’s back. He stops before reaching the curve of Levi’s ass, and Levi has never been more frustrated in his entire life.

“You can touch,” he breathes, immediately leaning back in to kiss him.

Nico doesn’t need to be told twice. He wraps his hands around Levi’s cheeks and squeezes, pulling Levi closer at the same time. They’re connected from their lips down to their knees, and Levi wants to touch him everywhere.

“Bed, bed, bed,” Levi chants.

Nico takes the hint, walking them backwards until he hits the back of the bad and he’s forced to sit down on it. Levi stays standing, looking down at Nico. He takes a second to just admire the way he looks leaning back on his hands, all smooth skin and firm muscles.

“You’re ridiculous,” he mumbles, and Nico laughs at him.

“Are you done insulting me?” he playfully smacks Levi on the side of his thigh.

Instead of answering, Levi leans down to kiss him again, holding the sides of his face between his hands. Nico makes a soft sound and grabs onto Levi’s hips.

Levi slowly lowers himself so that he’s sitting on Nico’s lap, their clothes rustling and their lips making wet sounds that fill the still silence in the room. He moves his hips just right and their cocks brush together even through the different layers that separate them.

It’s like fire suddenly shoots up Levi’s spine. He does it again, and again after that, and soon enough they’re rubbing against each other and quietly moaning in their kiss.

“Are we seriously going to dry hump like we’re teenagers?” Nico asks, biting down on Levi’s neck.

“Seems fitting, doesn’t it?” Levi shrugs, smiling.

Nico laughs and connects their lips again, wrapping Levi up in his arms and dipping them both to the side so that he’s lying on top of Levi. Their legs are tangled and they’re breathing in each other’s faces by now, but it feels so good and freeing that none of that matters.

They go back to moving their hips together, Levi’s grabbing at random places on Nico’s body, from his hair, to his shoulders, to the back of his thighs to make him thrust faster and harder.

Levi realises that this is going to be over embarrassingly fast, but he doesn’t care right now. All he cares about is that Nico’s lips are on his, and Nico’s strong hands are touching him everywhere, and Levi is so hard it almost hurts.

“C’mon,” he whispers in Nico’s ear, sneaking his hand under Nico’s shirt and scratching his back.

“I’m that irresistible, huh?” Nico smiles, never stopping the movements of hips.

“Shut up!” Levi yells, but it ends in a laugh.

Nico snickers and shuts both of them up with a deep kiss, laughter turning into moaning when their hips align just right.

“Like that?” Nico asks, voice gruff.

A shiver goes up Levi’s spine and he nods, wrapping his legs around Nico’s hips to chase the feeling that’s making sparks fly behind his eyelids. Nico doubles his efforts, grunting into Levi’s neck with every thrust.

Pressure keeps building behind Levi’s bellybutton, heat spreading down toward his groin and upper thighs. He feels like he could come any second now, the angle just right and Nico’s noises unbelievably hot. He just needs a last push to finally get over the edge.

“Mh,” he hums against Nico’s mouth. “Wait.”

Nico stops immediately, but he searches Levi’s face with a confused expression, still panting. Levi takes a moment to smile at him and quickly kiss him once, twice, three more times.

“This is really nice,” he explains. “But luckily we’re not teenagers anymore.”

Nico smirks, immediately catching on. He brushes one hand down Levi’s front, slipping his fingers inside the waistband of Levi’s pants as well as his underwear and tugging them both down. Levi’s cock springs up, bouncing off Levi’s lower belly.

“Now we’re talking,” Nico singsongs.

He holds Levi’s cock at the base and shuffles down the bed so he can dip his head and lick the tip, eyes focused on Levi’s face. He drags his fist up and down, fingers meeting his lips when he gets to the top.

Levi arches his lower back and bites back a moan. The tugging in his belly gets even stronger than before, Nico’s lips tight, and hot, and wet, and Levi never stood a chance.

He slides his fingers in Nico’s hair and tugs just for the sake of it. Nico sends him a dirty look and bobs his head even faster, set on making Levi come as fast as possible.

“I’m gonna-“ Levi grunts, trying to make Nico lift his head so he’s not forced to swallow.

Nico resists it and stays where he is, flattening his tongue on the underside of Levi’s cock, and that’s it. Levi comes with a strangled moan down Nico’s throat, hand flying over his own mouth to keep loud noises in. Nico keeps sucking even after he’s done, Levi shivering and pushing him away by pressing on his shoulders.

“Come here,” he says breathily, motioning for Nico to shuffle higher on the bed.

Nico quickly complies, already shoving his own pants down. Levi takes a second to admire the view from where he’s lying, glorious planes of skin and muscle and so, so much potential for pleasure. He wraps his fingers around Nico’s cock, making him gasp and bite his lower lip.

The hot, silky skin glides easily, and Levi soon finds a rhythm, wrist working fast and with purpose. Nico makes soft sounds and stares right at Levi, moving his hips to try and follow Levi’s movements.

“Fuck,” Nico moans. “Faster.”

Levi closes his eyes and keeps working his hand even through the ache settling into his muscles, but Nico looks so hot all flushed and focused that he wouldn’t dare taking this away from him right now.

He lifts his free hand from where it’s just lying by his side and brushes it over Nico’s abs, just feeling the skin and the muscles flex under his fingers. Nico’s eyes flit between Levi’s face and his own cock in Levi’s hand, seemingly unable to focus on just one.

Levi is about to say something, maybe dirty enough that he will be embarrassed by it later, but before he can even try Nico goes quiet and tenses up, coming and shooting all over Levi’s hand and the bottom of his shirt.

They stay there panting and staring at each other in silence for a few minutes. Then Levi smiles and Nico follows, soon enough both of them laughing loudly, hands reaching out to steady each other, or just to touch.

“Put that thing away,” Levi says, lightly hitting the tops of Nico’s thighs.

Nico rolls his eyes but does as told, adjusting himself and climbing off of Levi to sit by his side instead. Levi stretches and sighs happily, watching Nico through half-lidded eyes.

“Your shirt is dirty,” Nico points out.

“And whose fault is that?” Levi raises one eyebrow.

Nico doesn’t answer, but he puts one hand on Levi’s knee and squeezes. He looks like there are a lot of thoughts going around in his head, so Levi gives him a second to gather himself.

“Is it too late to say that I’m genuinely sorry for everything?” Nico asks quietly.

Levi walks his fingers down his own leg until he can brush them against Nico’s. He doesn’t feel like teasing and being annoying anymore.

“It would be,” he answers, then holds up one finger when Nico’s expression falls. “But luckily for you I’m a very gracious man.”

Nico laughs and leans forward on his forearms, hovering over Levi’s face, barely any space between their lips.

“Are you?” Nico whispers.

Levi hums as an answer, tilting his head and wrapping his arms around Nico’s back. If he tries hard enough, he can forget that they are in a very busy hospital, in the middle of the day, and they both have to get back to work soon.

“So does that mean that you’ll grant me the honor of going on a date with me?”

Levi smiles and Nico mirrors it, eyes sparkling happily. Levi rubs their noses together and tightens his arms, Nico settling more comfortably on Levi’s hips.

“Yes,” Levi answers at last. “But only if you bring me a clean shirt.”

Nico shakes his head and leans down to kiss Levi, most likely to prevent him from saying something else. Whatever. Levi lets him and kisses him back, humming happily. He can annoy him as much as he wants during their date.

**Author's Note:**

> I worked on this fic for a month straight, so it feels exciting and terrifiyng at the same time to finally be posting it!
> 
> The title is from One Direction's song "Fireproof" because I love it and I'm not ashamed of anything.
> 
> If you liked this, let me know with a comment or hit me up on [Tumblr](https://shesbreathless.tumblr.com/)!


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